Grupotel Orquidea

“Superb for families”

I have given 5/5 ad the pros hugely outweigh the cons for this hotel - if you are looking for a family break, especially with young children, I would highly recommend. Pros - Top of the list has to be the entertainment, and in particular the entertainment team. Miranda, Sean, Heather, Thiago, Ma... more

I have given 5/5 ad the pros hugely outweigh the cons for this hotel - if you are looking for a family break, especially with young children, I would highly recommend. Pros - Top of the list has to be the entertainment, and in particular the entertainment team. Miranda, Sean, Heather, Thiago, Martina and the rest of the team are absolutely brilliant at their jobs. They have a great way with the children and lead every activity (and there are loads, both in the day and the evening) with enthusiasm, a smile and a palpable passion for their jobs. I can't speak highly enough of them all. - The evening entertainment is particularly good for children, so ith multiple 'shows' staggered through the evening, with the later ones aimed at the older children. - On top of the activities, the facilties for children are also great. Playgrounds, splash parks, a soft play room, a baby lounge, arts/crafts - there is loads to do. - I know some have said the opposite, but I was impressed by the food in the restaurant. If you are willing to wait for the live cooking, especially, the food is cooked to order, fresh and hot. - Availability of food and drinks through the day is also good - snack bar, lots of self-serve drink stations. - The location is great, as long as you are not bothered about the lack of a beach. Very short transfer from the airport, lovely 1km walk along the coast to the next bay, quiet and unspoiled compared to more touristy towns on the island. Cons There are a few, and they are all quick fixes, so I would advise the management of the hotel to get them sorted so that they don't detract from the excellent work of their staff. - WiFi - doesn't work in most places around the hotel. Get a tech team in and invest in a proper network solution! - Showers - need upgrading. - Beds/bedding and towels - as above. - Spa/lane swimming pool - these are unnecessarily expensive for already-paying guests. Reduce the price (of the spa particularly) or remove from the selling points of the hotel and treat separately. All in all, we had an amazing time. I would love to return and hope that when we do, the quick wins will have been acted upon, but that the brilliant staff will remain!

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“Fantastic all round, especially loved the keep fit.”

We booked the Orquidea online, through TUI having researched where to go on Gran Canaria for a relaxing & restful holiday in a relatively quiet area of the island. TUI & the Orquidea exceeded our expectations in every aspect. The Hotel complex is expansive, catering for everyone, allowing space... more

We booked the Orquidea online, through TUI having researched where to go on Gran Canaria for a relaxing & restful holiday in a relatively quiet area of the island. TUI & the Orquidea exceeded our expectations in every aspect. The Hotel complex is expansive, catering for everyone, allowing space for all. It is very family friendly yet you can remain quiet should you prefer this. The TUI team, with Naomi at the helm, work incredibly hard to please everyone. They are cheerful, professional, polite, & seem to enjoy every moment. I love sport/keep fit & was looking forward to some ‘active’ classes. I attended a significant number of the exercise sessions ably led by Stine & Marcus. Both clearly love their jobs, are very capable, & provided great class instruction, coupled with great fun. They are amazing. I loved every moment of the varied classes (Pilates, Yoga, Aqua Fit, Relaxation - others too), & can’t thank them enough for their enthusiasm & kindness during our fortnight here. TUI Blue comes highly recommended. Karen

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“Highly recommend for families”

On the whole everything is positive except … not enough consideration given too adults. only a very small area given in restaurant buffet and swimming all the pools full of children and nowhere for adults for quiet swim unless you want to pay 12€ an hour for spa. While it maybe too much too expec... more

On the whole everything is positive except … not enough consideration given too adults. only a very small area given in restaurant buffet and swimming all the pools full of children and nowhere for adults for quiet swim unless you want to pay 12€ an hour for spa. While it maybe too much too expect adults only pool. We realise family oriented hotel simple float barrier across large pool would have given adults some space. Also food luke warm but plenty of choice. Gardens and Hotel immaculately turned out and very friendly hard working staff. Would recommend and would consider returning again.

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“By no means a TUI Blue”

This is a nice young family hotel, but by no means is it a TUI blue in comparison to others with this title. Firstly, we came as 2 older couples knowing that this was a family hotel, however it is described as having “quieter adult only areas”. The only adult only area was a small section of seat... more

This is a nice young family hotel, but by no means is it a TUI blue in comparison to others with this title. Firstly, we came as 2 older couples knowing that this was a family hotel, however it is described as having “quieter adult only areas”. The only adult only area was a small section of seating in the dining room. There were no dedicated areas around the pool or a certain floor for adult only rooms in the hotel. The rooms are average and dated, the towels are thin and uncomfortable and haven’t been updated presumably since changing to a tui blue. We reported that our shower didn’t work properly and would flood the bathroom so we’d have to use all of the towels to stop that but nothing was done. The beds are uncomfortable and the furniture in the room is damaged and dated. The rooms aren’t cleaned upon request, the beds are just re made. I know this because I dropped pencil sharpening on the floor by mistake and despite my efforts getting them up, they weren’t cleaned up afterwards. The WiFi and tv in the room don’t work. The rooms aren’t sound proofed and you’re often woken up by people in the night or children running up and down and screaming the next morning. Were not normally a couple who struggle to eat at all inclusive restaurants as we aren’t fussy, but the food was very hit and miss and we found ourselves eating out a couple of times during the stay as the food wasn’t great. Even the children’s section couldn’t help out. Breakfast is very basic and the best choices come at lunch, but the food is often not replenished quick enough and unless you get it fresh coming out, the food was cold every day. El sultan the restaurant attached, is stunning. The food was incredible, but you can only eat there once every week you’re there. Which I find ridiculous given that you have to pay to eat there anyway, it’s not included in your stay! Playa Feliz the attached hotel was much better for the snack bar as the food was kept covered and heated. The pool area was quieter and the pool cleaner, in the main orquidea pool, there were black bits floating all round the pool. We assumed it was algae from the grout around the sides, as the pools were cleaned by a robot machine on the evening but it only cleaned the bottoms, therefore we spent most of our time at playa Feliz as it was much cleaner. The hotel is looking out for the planet at being more resourceful but this also means you only get one bottle of water at the start of the holiday and you have to fill that up in the hotel, which is fine, however the drinks machines are too small to fit a large bottle of water in and this then becomes difficult. The man made beach is small and you have to pay for beds despite it being on the complex which is a shame. Good transport links for the bus and close to the airport. Overall this is a lovely hotel for young families with tonnes of things and activities for children and babies, but other than that there aren’t a lot of overwhelming positives. I think it needs looking at in comparison to other 4* TUI Blue hotels. It has really good potential but it’s not there yet.

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